Ware Lecturer
The 2009 Ware Lecturer will be announced here when selected
2008 Ware Lecturer Van Jones
Van Jones is working to combine solutions to America's two biggest problems:
social inequality and environmental destruction. In 1996, Jones and Diana
Frappier co-founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, which is now
headquartered in Oakland, CA. Named for an unsung civil rights
heroine, Ella Baker Center promotes positive alternatives to violence and
incarceration. In 2003, the center's Books Not Bars campaign helped block
the construction of a costly and controversial "Super-Jail For Youth" near
Oakland. Since that victory, Books Not Bars has helped reduce California's
overall youth prison population by more than 30 percent.
In the aftermath of
2005's Hurricane Katrina, Jones helped to found Color of Change. With
more than 100,000 members, Color of Change is now the nation's biggest
e-advocacy organization tackling Black issues.
Over the past five years, Jones has also emerged as a national environmental leader. In recent years, he has served on the boards of the National Apollo Alliance, Social Venture Network, Rainforest Action Network, Bioneers and Julia Butterfly Hill's "Circle of Life" organization. In June 2007, the City of Oakland adopted a proposal from the Ella Baker Center and the Oakland Apollo Alliance to create a "Green Jobs Corps." The Corps will train youth for eco-friendly "green-collar jobs." Now the Center is working with the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) to create the country's first-ever Green Enterprise Zone, to attract environmentally sound industry to Oakland. At the national level, Jones and the Ella Baker Center worked with U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Green Jobs Act of 2007. That path-breaking, historic legislation will provide $120 million in funding to train 35,000 people a year in "green-collar jobs."
A 1993 Yale Law graduate, Jones is also a husband and father. He is proud to champion some of the most hopeful solutions to America's toughest challenges.
The Ware Lecture will be delivered on Saturday, June 28, at 8:30 p.m. at the Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center in Florida. General Assembly registration is required to attend this event.
Previous Ware Lecturers have included the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Kurt Vonnegut, and poet Mary Oliver.
Last updated on Monday, August 11, 2008.
